The DOI matches its Crossref record; 24 of the 24 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
THE INFLUENCE OF DELINQUENT PEERS: WHAT THEY THINK OR WHAT THEY DO?*
Abstract
Although the association between delinquent friends and delinquent behavior is well established, the mechanism by which delinquency is socially transmitted remains unclear. Sutherlands theory of differential association holds that delinquency is a consequence of attitudes favorable to the violation of the law, attitudes that are acquired through intimate social interaction with peers. An analysis of data from the National Youth Survey indicates that peer attitudes do affect delinquency. But the effect of peers'attitudes is small in comparison to that of peers behavior, and the effect of peers'behavior remains strong even when peers, attitudes and the adolescent's own attitude are controlled. Moreover, when the behavior and attitudes of peers are inconsistent, the behavior of peers appears to outweigh or override the attitudes of peers. These findings suggest that delinquency is not primarily a consequence of attitudes acquired from peers. Rather, it more likely stems from other social learning mechanisms, such as imitation or vicarious reinforcement, or from group pressures to conform.
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“To the extent that behavior and attitudes are mutually reinforcing in general (e.g., Bem 1970;Festinger 1964), and for deviant behavior in particular (e.g., Warr and Stafford 1991), a full picture of the role of religion in controlling crime and deviance needs to assess religion's affect on both attitudes and behavior.”
From The Effect of Religiosity on Tax Fraud Acceptability: A Cross‐National Analysis (2006) · cites this paper as Warr and Stafford 1991
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Metadata
- Authors
- WARR, M., & STAFFORD, M.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Washington State University (US)
- Venue
- Criminology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1991-11
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 851-866
- ISSN
- 0011-1384 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-9125
- OpenAlex
- W2101472231
- Cited by
- 481
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 19.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Criminology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime, Deviance, and Social Control
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Keywords
- juvenile delinquency, peer influence, differential association, peer attitudes, peer behavior, social learning, imitation, vicarious reinforcement, group conformity
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